Hala Essalmawi

Ms. Hala Essalmawi, an Egyptian national, is a Principal Attorney (Head of Section), and the Intellectual Property Rights Officer at the Library of Alexandria. She is the Project Lead of the Library’s Access to Knowledge initiative and the editor of its website (www.bibalex.org/a2k).

Hala also the Project Lead for Creative Commons in Egypt as well as the research coordinator for the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) "Consumer Protection in the Microfinance Industry Research Project”.

Ms. Essalmawi is also a Regional Representative for the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Centre for Arabic Speaking Libraries at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (IFLA-CASL - http://www.bibalex.org/IFLA%2DCASL/home/index.aspx). Established in August 2007, IFLA-CASL acts as a communication link between the Arab library community and IFLA, and facilitates networking and communication in the Library & Information field in Arabic, within the international community.)

Hala holds a Bachelors of Law and a Masters of Law from the Faculty of Law, Alexandria University, a post-graduate Diploma in International Law and Development, the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, and an LL.M in Intellectual Property, Turin University and the WIPO Worldwide Academy. Her areas of interest include law and development, intellectual property rights, access to knowledge and microfinance. Her mother tongue is Arabic and she is fluent in English.